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LDK member: The government's unilateral decisions are jeopardizing the support of allies

2024-02-06 21:56:31, Kosova & Bota CNA

LDK member: The government's unilateral decisions are jeopardizing the

The member of the Presidency of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Berat Rukiqi warns that the actions, which he called unilateral, of the government of Mr. Albin Kurti, risk that Kosovo will remain without the support of allies. During the interview with the journalist of the Voice of America, Artan Haraqija, last week while participating in the Morning Prayers, Mr. Rukiqi says that the lack of coordination with the allies on a multitude of issues, such as the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority and now the decision to remove the Serbian dinar from use in Kosovo, risks that the country will remain without support even if Kosovo were to face similar risks, such as the terrorist attack in Banjska.

Voice of America: The decision of the Central Bank in Kosovo regarding the use of the Serbian dinar prompted a wave of diplomatic pressure to postpone the implementation of this decision. How should Prishtina act in this case?

Berat Rukiqi:  This is the decision of 2012 and it is also part of the Constitution of Kosovo. Kosovo has a single currency, it does not have a multi-currency system. Kosovo has decided to accept the German mark for the post-war period and then its transition to the eurozone, i.e. that of the European monetary systems in the eurozone, has normally imposed the use of the euro as a single currency and this is more than clear. In the meantime, there has been flexibility regarding the payments made to Serbian citizens, mainly payments coming from the government of Serbia. It is universally known that they receive, especially the health and education system in the northern part of Kosovo, but also in the part where there is a Serbian community, an additional salary, which was in dinars, which is the official currency of another country, who does not know Kosovo. We as a party do not comment on the decisions of independent institutions, the Central Bank is an independent institution, it is assumed that it is independent from various political influences. What we also heard in meetings with American officials is a friendly request to have flexibility in terms of implementation and coming from a country that has done a lot for the country's sovereignty and is normally not interested in compromising it at any time. no sovereign decision and no action that guarantees the country's sovereignty in any field, including the part of the monetary system related to the use of currency. It was their decision and we normally have not commented on it because it is something that has re-emphasized and brought back to attention a thing that is necessary to be implemented, today or tomorrow, it should be the monetary policy in this case

VOA: What does flexibility mean?

Berat Rukiqi:  Time flexibility, that is, a transitional period of time which then enables the expansion of financial institutions of Kosovo in the northern part and in the part where there is a Serbian community and normally creates the space for payments to be made in the official currency of Kosovo in financial institutions that are licensed by the Republic of Kosovo, respectively by the Central Bank.

Voice of America: Your party has requested that Mr. Kurti's government coordinate with the international community, especially with Washington. If this request is made now, for flexibility as you say, do you think this decision should be postponed? How would you act if you were in power?

Berat Rukiqi : There is a growing concern about, in general, unilateral decisions of Kosovo. We are at the moment when we have all our allies behind us, especially after the situation created by the terrorist attack in Banjska, we had an alignment of all our allies in support of Kosovo, in support of Kosovo's sovereignty and territorial integrity and in support especially in terms of of security for Kosovo. So, the part where we are very sensitive, the protection of the borders and the part that has to do with any kind of confrontation that we may have with any aggression or with any attack that could be of the proportions of terrorist things and let's not have that other part that followed the attack, the coordination with the allies, of course the consequences for the security and integrity of the country would be very serious and normally these types of coordination in terms of security are then also required in other parts and this is the concern, that there is no coordination before decisions are made that affect a segment where the attention is then focused, where the reflectors are turned, which is the north of the country and which are the rights of the Serbian community. We think that we as Kosovo should use this attention, as much as we have, of the allies in this geopolitical context and turn it to the benefit of our processes, to the benefit of the security of our country, to the benefit of integration, to the benefit of politics externally, not only the recognition that is imperative and membership in international organizations, but also the lifting of sanctions since we must not forget that Kosovo is under sanctions and the damages are continuing and the damages can multiply if we are not included in new financial packages, or in new European Union growth packages as there are warnings. We, as a political party, take all these as serious concerns of the allies and normally we say them openly in the sense that Kosovo can take every step in defense of territorial integrity and sovereignty only in coordination with the allies. We were extremely enthusiastic and happy that the United States pre-approved because of course Congressional approval is needed for Javelin systems, but normally we have to be communicative and open to other requests that they may have. . We should also read this as direct support for them, despite the fact that we buy them, without a direct bi-partisan support in the United States we would not have this opportunity that many other countries do not have. We should read this as a signal that sometimes when they come with a request that is neither to violate the Constitution nor the law, but only a modality of implementation that actually then includes the accommodation of the interests of the Serbian community, allies and others in this new situation that has been created.

Voice of America: The greatest pressure on Kosovo is exerted around the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, whose draft statute has been written by the international community. He was not accepted by your party as he was considered harmful. How can Pristina react in coordination with the international community if you do not agree with something that has been written by the International Community itself?

Berat Rukiqi:  We normally had pressure in the past as well. Before the status, then during the discussion about the status in Vienna and other processes that we went through, the institutions of Kosovo and the political representatives of Kosovo received various documents and commented on them. So the most basic thing that should happen in these processes is to have communication and to have both remarks and disagreements.

Voice of America: You continue to be against the draft statute of the Association?

Berat Rukiqi: Let me clarify, the first basic problem is why the government of Kosovo failed to draw up a draft statute on its own, so that it can then be a basic document at the negotiation table. A failure to listen to the request of friends and a failure to listen to our constant recommendations, that we should go prepared with our option and alternative of what the Association could look like, which is an international obligation, that there is no longer a dilemma whether it should be created or not, it resulted in a ready-made document in a take-it-or-leave-it format. This document, which came after the Ohrid Agreement, also included elements of the Ohrid Agreement that completely changes the nature of the earlier agreements.

Voice of America: Despite the promises of the international community that what they have offered does not violate Kosovo's sovereignty, do you think it is harmful?

Berat Rukiqi:  I can say with full responsibility from the meetings we have had here and from the other meetings we have had in Pristina and in other places, what is very clear is that this constitutional guarantee can only be given by the Court Constitutional. There may be promises that in terms of implementation and political approach in the future this will not be a Serbian Republic, it will not be a third level of power, however, whether or not there is a violation of the constitution, only the Constitutional Court gives this.

Voice of America: A little earlier you mentioned the punitive measures of the European Union against Kosovo. What is the damage of these measures in the economy of Kosovo?

Berat Rukiqi:  We have the direct part of the impact. There are 300 million euros of the financial package of support from the European Union for important projects in Kosovo, so let's not forget that they are part of important projects in the field of energy and in the field of digitization, which then affect the youth sector, or affect projects various that could benefit the youth of Kosovo. So it's pretty important as a financial value. For a small economy and a developing economy, it causes enormous damage, especially in the parts where we have no investment capacity. This is the first part: the second part is the indirect consequences. This has affected the loss of confidence in the Kosovo market. We have also highlighted in our recent media presentations the element of the decrease in exports and there are indications that a part of the decrease in exports in 2023 compared to 2022, in total value is approximately 101 million euros.

Voice of America: The World Bank predicted growth of gross domestic product in Kosovo for 3.9 percent in 2024 and 4 percent for 2025. How do you evaluate these forecasts in light of global developments?

Berat Rukiqi:  There were even higher forecasts for last year and we ended up with one of the weakest economic performance years. So, if we exclude the year of the pandemic, last year was below the average that characterized us after independence. It has been around 4% since 2008, that is, outside the year of the pandemic, which was an exceptional year. Naturally, this raises concerns. For Kosovo, 4% is not enough. We intend that, at the moment we will govern, we will have economic growth above 5% in order to have a new cycle of development which creates jobs and prospects for citizens. Last year, the number of people estimated to be poor increased. If taken in absolute values, there are more than 26 thousand people who have been added to the list of those who are poor. This has also been observed in purchasing power, all the measurements we make and others make, we see that the main concern of the country's citizens is the cost of living, prices and the inability to afford the various expenses that can have Over 50% of a salary in Kosovo goes to basic expenses. This is the highest in Europe, no country has this percentage. If we take the percentage growth figures, the politicians, the governors, the authorities in this case use them in their own way, manipulate them, exaggerate them, but what is really observed in the economy is a crisis of purchasing power that then affects the entire cycle of economic growth, there is a liquidity crisis in companies, that is, there are companies that have problems in fulfilling their obligations in relation to each other, and this is also an indication that appeared these days by an independent institute, we see that we have nearly a tripling of overdrafts and a noticeable increase in consumer loans. How does this translate into reality, that is, citizens or businesses not being able to pay their bills have used expensive but necessary financing solutions, which have been overdrafts and consumer loans./ VOA





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